Our opinion
concerning the last movie of Romeo & Juliet
by Baz Luhrmann
It`s pretty tough to write a criticism about a movie which lives as much of its emotional impressions and of its pictures as 'Romeo & Juliet' does. We would suggest to everyone who hasn`t seen Luhrmann`s production yet to do so immediately. Nevertheless we want to try to give you an idea of our impressions on this movie.
First of all we would like to present you a few scenes we liked best:
"Good morrow cousin"- "Is the day so young?"
We see a Romeo sitting at the beach watching the sun rising. He has spent the whole night thinking about his unrequited love for Rosaline. The sun is reflected in his eyes and we can see the mixed emotions in his face. The scene is just admirable. It emphasizes the general atmosphere of the movie. He presents a perfectly romantic hero.
Romeo attending the Capulet´s party is strolling around when suddenly he sees Juliet... Okay, everybody loves this moment at the aquarium. So what? It really is special. You know: Her smile... In this moment Juliet truly does look like an angel. The way her eyes meet Romeo´s gives the scene its special romantic spirit. The water in the aquarium symbolizes the various upcoming problems and shows that there will be a lot that´ll stand between them.
Romeo´s comment on this first encounter: "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/For I ne`er saw true beauty till this night."
"O, I`m Fortune`s fool!"
Here we see Romeo just having killed his "true love`s cousin" Tybalt. The camera only shows a small part of Leonardo Di Caprio: his face. His whole body is shivering and tense. He has tears in his eyes and his facial expressions are so dramatic that your heart almost stops beating. In this scene as in many others throughout the movie, Leonardo shows his talent and proves that he doesn`t just speak the lines, but has a feeling for what his character believes in and for what Romeo wants to express.
Altogether the movie is characterized by a lot of good qualities:
Not only the scenes we just presented make the movie attractive but also aspects like the music video style and the setting. The songs chosen for the movie seem to include different styles of music which perfectly emphasize the atmosphere of the scenes. Especially the song "Crush" by Garbage which is played at the end of the movie, the scene where Romeo and Juliet see each other for the last time and die, gives the last dramatic touch to the scene, we think. The loud and heavy music also reveals the aggression between the two households and underlines the despair shown in the movie. And besides, it also appeals to today's generation.
The settings- beach, desert, and the party at the Capulet's house- they all reflect the emotions of the characters and underline the atmosphere in each scene, we find. For example the beach could stand for romantic and dramatic moments, in our opinion. Not only Romeo is to be seen at the beach when he is happy and in love, but also has Mercutio, Romeo's best friend, dramatically been killed there. The desert could stand for hopelessness and despair. It is the place where Romeo hides totally desperate and sad after he has been banished. Here he also gets the news of Juliet's death which is the most hopeless moment for Romeo in the movie.
At the party everything gets started, Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love with each other immediately. The party stands for happiness, comfort, love and pleasure. They meet, they are happy, full of emotions and they are pleased by the fact that they have met. With this party scene Luhrmann demonstrates the viewer that it is possible for those two young people to fall in love at first sight.
Also, we think the colourful costumes fit the characters very well because they reveal the character's situation and their characteristics. For example, Juliet wears the costume of an angel that shows her virginity and her lovely personality.
It also stands for her purity and for her young age. Mercutio's costume, he is dressed like a transvestite, reveals about his character that he isn't careful at all and that he likes to provoke other people. It also shows his crazy behaviour and that he is full of emotions and power all of the time. Romeo's knight costume expresses that he is a hero and willing to fight for Juliet's and his love.
Like Luhrmann said "Violence, murder, lust, love, poison, drugs that mimic death; it's all there." This movie just includes everything a movie fan expects of a good movie. So, don't miss it!!
